While I do teach archery during the winter, not a lot of people sign up for Winter Archery Lessons during that time period. Usually people prebook for the Spring or Summer instead.

When I am at the archery range during the winter I often forget to take out my camera and take some photographs while I am there. I often forget to do that even during the warmer months. Having too much fun perhaps? It is a very enjoyable sport.

Heck, I will sometimes bring my tripod and everything, and I will still forget to set up the camera to make a video or take some photos. Am I just forgetful?

Maybe so.

Still, here is a collection of some of the archery photography I have taken this winter and previous winters. (This is not a complete listing of every photograph. I have many more... Some of which you may be able to see by visiting my Instagram account at https://www.instagram.com/charles.moffat/ .)

Easter Weekend, I forget what year this was...

So how snowy is it in March?

Honestly, not very snowy. Below is a photo of a friend I took on March 10th. As you can see by the lack of snow and his garb, all the snow has already melted and it isn't that cold outside.

March 11th 2018

March 17th 2018

Seriously, all the snow has long since melted.

Tomorrow is March 21st, the first day of Spring.

And right around this time of year is when my email is usually flooded with messages from people asking for archery lessons in the Spring and Summer. So go ahead. Shoot me an email at cardiotrek@gmail.com and schedule your archery lessons in Toronto.

But for anyone in future winters who are reading this, you can also book winter archery lessons if you want to. Or prebook for the summer. Whichever.

History of the KETO Diet and How It Is Now Used For Weight Loss Benefits

Guest Post by Contributor.

Today, the KETO diet is not only used to cure diseases, but it is also a highly recommended method for people who want to lose weight. How does this diet help achieve this?

The KETO diet puts the body in a state of Ketosis, which helps one to use fat for energy. Burning fats is effective in improving your health, and also in losing weight.

It has been proven that this diet leads to fewer cravings, improved self-control, and increased energy levels that result in more physical activity; hence making it easy for a person following it to lose weight.

However, getting desirable results from this diet doesn’t come easy, you need to adhere to the diet, exercise routinely, and most importantly, set realistic goals that are easier to track. Pursue this diet to the end, and let everyone around you witness its power! To get started with keto the easy way, you can try some meal plan available at https://www.ketovale.com/keto-diet-meal-plan/

Now let’s talk about the history of keto diet and what it was about in the beginning.

History of Keto

In the 1920s epilepsy was a major calamity which made scientists work day and night in search of a cure that would save humanity. Back then, this disease was attributed to many causes, attacks from evil spirits being at the helm of the list. People believed so until the legendary Greek physician, Hippocrates outlined its reality as a biological disorder and not a spiritual spell. He suggested fasting as an effective way of countering epilepsy.

Other physicians adopted Hippocrates idea, and fasting was seen as a great way to combat this disease. In fact, two doctors, Marie and Guelpa from Paris used this method to help 20 individuals reduce the effects of epilepsy, and the entire process was recorded in a report published at https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4158257/

After this breakthrough in Paris, doctors from multiple fields drew same conclusions from the patients they helped using this epilepsy treatment method. However, since fasting is just a way of offering temporary solutions, you certainly know it’s highly unsustainable.

The transition from fasting to KETO diet

The origin of the KETO diet is attributed to a suggestion by William Lennox from the Harvard Medical School, who noted that after 2-3 days of fasting, seizures began to drop. He asserted that the alteration came as a result of a change in metabolism (which is a change in body’s fuels in simple terms).

His idea that the body fuelled itself on fat during fasting is seen as one of the most critical steps in the development of the popular KETO diet we know today.

It was in 1921 when DR. Rollin Woodyatt, a renowned endocrinologist discovered that three compounds that were soluble in water, Beta-hydroxybutyric, acetoacetate, and acetone (all known as ketones), were produced by the liver of a fasting individual, or one who followed a diet high in fat and low on carbs. This is what Dr. Russell Wilder called the Ketogenic diet and used it to treat epilepsy in 1921 by proposing that the body could produce the same ketone bodies produced during fasting, except with regular eating.

The Discovery by Dr. Wilder opened doors for more innovation. Dr. Peterman of the Mayo Clinic was the first person to standardize the diet with the following circulations;

Eating one gram of proteins per kilogram of bodyweight

Consuming 10-15 g of carbohydrates every day

Filling the other calories with fat

Surprisingly, these mild alterations to the diet by Dr. Peterman is the ketogenic diet practiced all over the world today.

Since then, this diet became the most critical tool in fighting epilepsy. It became so compelling that medics feared it was a strong competitor of the pharmaceutical industry in 1938. However, the diet faced a major downfall for three decades. This is because people believed that it was only beneficial to epilepsy patients, and could not be of any benefit to them.

In 1994, this diet saw a major comeback when it shocked many by helping a tormented boy who faced seizures for over two years. His father Jim Abrahams discovered the KETO diet and took him to John Hopkins where the diet gave quick results. This was a new beginning, and the diet is still a diet to many across the world.

Fad diets are a dime a dozen, but some diets are actually worth trying. After all, sometimes a fad diet works for a particular person and they achieve success with it. Does that mean other people shouldn't bother trying that particular diet? No. It just means that some diets work for some people. And lets face it, most dieters fail due to a lack of willpower - not because the diet was necessarily faulty.

Today we will focus on three diets are focused on nutrition.

Wait, aren't all diets focused on nutrition? Nope. Not necessarily. A high protein diet for example might ignore carbs and vegetables and suffer from a shortage of vitamins and minerals, a vegan diet would ignore all animal byproducts, meat, etc and not be getting enough calcium or protein, and a low carbs diet would avoid bread / pasta / etc and the poor dieter ends up feeling exhausted and depressed.

So clearly those types of diets do have something wrong with them, and it is because the dieter isn't getting enough of the things they need. Nutritionally wise everyone should be eating a balanced diet of protein, veggies, carbs, and so forth so that they are getting a good balance of minerals and vitamins and everything else they need.

#1. The Ketogenic Diet

The Ketogenic Diet dates back to the 1920s and is a bit unusual. It is a high-fat, moderate protein, and low carbohydrate diet. It is usually used to treat children with epilepsy, but it also has benefits for the average dieter because of several factors:

While it is a low carb diet, because it is a high fat diet the person doesn't end up feeling sluggish and depressed because the extra fat provides all the energy they need.

Since there is so few carbs in the diet the liver converts fats into fatty acids and ketone bodies (which in turn lower the number and severity of epileptic seizures in children).

The Ketogenic Diet was popular back in the 1920s, but because it also caused constipation it fell out of favour - however in recent years the diet has made a comeback, with advocates working more vegetables into their diet that prevent constipation - things like dates, prunes, raisins, berries, popcorn, beans, dried apricots, figs, broccoli, plums, pears, apples, nuts all act as laxatives to prevent constipation.

Who doesn't like dried apricots?

So really this is more like the "Ketogenic Diet 2.0" as you basically do the Ketogenic Diet, but with added benefit of eating dried apricots / etc to keep yourself regular.

The Classic Ketogenic Diet for children was created by paediatrician Mynie Peterman and had the following rules:

A ratio of one gram of protein per kilogram of
body weight in children;

10–15 g of carbohydrates per day;

The
remainder of one's daily calories came from fatty sources.

The modern Ketogenic Diet amends the 3rd rule by adding various foods to prevent constipation - preferably foods that are both high in fat and also act as a laxative. Some of the food will contain some carbs, but it is really about seeking more nutritional balance and a happy colon.

Want to learn more about the Ketogenic Diet? Read www.ketogenicsupplementreviews.com/julian-bakery-instaketones/

#2. The Atkins Nutritional Diet 2.0

Created by Dr Robert Atkins.

You have probably heard of the Atkins Diet before, because it is (was) a popular fad diet during the 2003 to 2005 period. In July 2005, the Atkins Nutritional company filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection after a series of sales declines. The company does still exist, but it is no longer as popular as it once was.

Like the Classic Ketogenic Diet from the 1920s, the Atkins Diet had some problems... and it was frankly very similar to Ketogenic Diet. It was also a high-fat and low carbs diet, but it was nowhere near as balanced as the Ketogenic Diet.

Instead it advised people to consume only 950 calories per day... where normally people should be consuming approx. 1800 to 2200 calories per day depending on their body size, level of exercise, etc.

Also keeping in mind that anything below 1400 calories is widely considered to be a "crash diet" or a "near starvation diet".

Dr Atkins believe that embracing the starvation diet was beneficial and that such a low carb diet helped burn fat because "burning fat takes more calories so you expend more calories" during the fat burning process than if you were burning carbs instead.

So while a crash / starvation diet is good for losing weight, it also saps people's willpower very quickly and makes people depressed. And even if they do lose the weight, many people would later quit the diet and regain the weight because it was like leaving a long fast and their body desperately craved more food.

So clearly the original Atkins Diet wasn't that good of an idea.

Enter the Atkins Nutritional Diet 2.0... and its own set of rules:

High Fat

Low Carbs

1400 to 1800 calories per day

Gone is the crash diet approach, but it keeps the high fat and low carbs routine. And like before, dieters still need to be counting calories if they are seeking to lose weight by keeping it between 1400 to 1800 calories. Add in lots of protein, and it basically a modified Ketogenic Diet.

#3. The Canadian Food Guide Diet

If you grew up in Canada, you probably have seen this (or a version of it) before. It is basically a government endorsed diet for Canadians, following the principles of food portions and good nutrition.

The food guide calls for Canadians to eat the following per day depending upon their needs:

As everyone knows by now, there are apps to help with every area of modern life. From staying on top of work emails to finding events in foreign cities, the tiny computers that live in our pockets have become essential tools for optimizing daily life.

Health and physical fitness are issues that affect everyone and that a lot of people actively want to
improve, so it’s not surprising that there are hundreds of apps to help you do just that. You should
investigate them yourself and find your own favourites, but the list below is a good place to start.

There are many apps that work well but are designed to function in conjunction with fitness
trackers, and we’ve left those out because, obviously, they only work if you have an extra piece of
equipment (the tracker). We’ve also chosen apps that are especially interactive, since the more
engaged you are, the more likely you are to stick with them.

DietBet

DietBet is especially helpful if you’re naturally competitive or have a penchant for gambling. Choose
a challenge based on how much money you’d like to bet and how long you’d like to participate, and
if you lose a minimum of 4% of your total body weight you’ll win. To keep you motivated, tracking
your progress with weigh-ins that you submit is very simple, and you can read and send positive
messages to the rest of the DietBet community too.

PEAR Personal Coach

The PEAR Personal Coach works with all fitness levels, offering hundreds of different audio workouts led by well-known health and fitness professionals. The voices you might hear include those of Jay Johnson, who coaches the Dallas Cowboys cheerleaders, and Olympian Deena Kastor.

The interactive PEAR Personal Coach app also allows you to determine your VO2Max. This is defined as the body’s ability to consume oxygen during exercise, and gives a good indication of
cardiovascular fitness so you can use the number to track your progress. Find it by putting on a heart
monitor, pairing it with your app, and performing a quick running test.

Sworkit

Sworkit, which stands for Simply Work It, also acts like a portable, affordable personal trainer.
Professional trainers demonstrate all kinds of different workouts, and you can choose from standard
options or customize your own. Just say which areas you want to target, how long you want the
session to be, and explain any other special needs or limitations that you have. More than 200
exercises are randomly combined with interval training, for maximum effectiveness.

CycleCast

Use CycleCast to turn any time you spend on a stationary bike into a fat-busting spin class, delivered
by experienced instructors. Choose the playlist, instructor and class length that you’d like, and get
spinning.

Couch to 5K

If you’re new to the fitness game, Couch to 5K is a simple, supportive way to get things going. I just
30 minutes a day, 3 times a week for 9 weeks, you can get yourself ready for your first 5K race. You
get to choose your own interactive coach who will keep you motivated every step of the way, and
you’ll be able to connect to the supportive 5K community, as well as share your results on social
media.

Pocket Yoga

If you’re looking for a different kind of workout, this app that allows you to practice Yoga any time
and anywhere is well worth a look. Experienced Yoga practitioners have designed all poses and
routines, and as you use the app more you’ll unlock new Yoga “environments” – this seemingly small
reward can keep you really motivated! All poses are clearly illustrated, with detailed descriptions of
their benefits.

Honourable Mention: Charity Miles

Charity Miles is interactive, but in a different way; it uses your physical activity to give back. For
every mile you run or cycle, sponsors like Lifeway Foods, Humana and Timex Sports will donate
money to charity. You get to choose where it goes, from a group that includes Habitat for Humanity
and the Wounded Warrior Project. Take your motivation to get fit to a whole new level of
philanthropy!